The University of Warwick’s Esports Centre has announced its first new sponsor of 2023, ahead of an upcoming Warwick Valorant Invitational.
The uni has struck a multi-year deal with gaming PC manufacturer Chillblast, which marks the Warwick Esports Centre’s largest sponsorship since its launch in 2021.
Chillblast PCs power several esports tournaments, teams and organisations, and this new deal aims to help support grassroots esports.
Warwick Valorant Invitational and other events
An upcoming event sponsored by Chillblast will be the Warwick Valorant Invitational, featuring both an open tournament and a women and non-binary tournament that will run simultaneously with qualifiers online on Wednesday March 1st 2023.
The finalists from both tournaments will be supported to travel to Warwick’s Esports Centre to play their grand finals in-person on Saturday March 11th as they will battle live for the lion’s share of the prize pool worth £2,000.
The upcoming Warwick Valorant Invitational follows a pilot of the Chillblast Championships towards the end of 2022.
Update: The winners OniFans were announced here:
There will be other events too. Chillblast and Warwick will be working together on a series of competitions across a variety of game titles as part of their sponsorship. These pop-up majors are an effort to provide more opportunities for young people aspiring for esports careers. Each tournament will be student-run by Warwick student staff, providing entry-level paid opportunities for the core team and optional volunteering opportunities.
Currently the tournaments are open to online .ac.uk email holders, so these events are for students and university staff right now, but that may change in the future.
Chillblast will also be providing exclusive offers and discounts to qualifying students and academics. Details of these offers and deals will be periodically shared on an online esports hub, and via a subscription-only newsletter.
“This is a huge boost to the momentum we’ve been generating since opening in the Esports Centre in September 2021.”
Jack Fenton, University of Warwick
Almost two years after the announcement of a £275,000 investment enabling the university to develop a dedicated esports space, Warwick Uni says the centre ‘has been a huge success, not just on campus but across the country’.
The student society, Warwick Esports, brought home its fourth consecutive BUEC trophy last year, over 1,000 young people have taken part various skills programmes, and the Esports Centre user community has grown to over 2,200 people.
The news also comes after Warwick Uni finished second in the Collegiate Programme of the Year category in the Esports Awards 2022, and it comes ahead of the education-focused ESI Next Gen event on March 22nd to 23rd at the university.
What Chillblast and Warwick said about the deal
Ben Miles, Managing Director of Chillblast and Tactus Group’s Chief Gaming Officer, said: “Everyone at Chillblast is incredibly excited to advance our status as a leading esports brand by working with the University of Warwick.
“With its exceptional Esports Centre and support ecosystem for students looking to enter our industry, Warwick was a natural partner, especially given the incredible team the university has in place.”
Jack Fenton, the University of Warwick’s Head of Esports, added: “This is a huge boost to the momentum we’ve been generating since opening in the Esports Centre in September 2021.
“Chillblast truly recognises not just the potential in the facility but also in the student community, and we’re committed to working together to provide genuine opportunities for students at college and university across the UK. It’s an exciting time to be in this scene and it’s an honour to have Chillblast on board supporting its growth.”
To sign-up or learn more about this collaboration and the Warwick Valorant Invitational, visit https://www.chillblast.com/learn/warwick-valorant-invitational/
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
